My Heart's a Battleground
by TtRavenFan1
Summary: After 5 years, Sora finally makes it home. But Ansem comes up with one last plan to destroy the Key bearer once and for all. Can he and Kairi survive it? a very very sad SoraKairi one shot.


This is intended to be a very long SoraKairi one-shot. In the end, it might not be as long as I thought it would be. And it is VERY sad.

* * *

Sora stared at Kairi from the distance. It had been five years since he had last seen her; she had changed so much. She was sitting on the dock, simply glaring at the ocean as if waiting for something—or someone—to come out of it. He desperately wanted to tell her how he felt—that he loved her. He had to walk over and tell her about all that had happened, but he couldn't find the stamina. What if she didn't remember him? What if she wasn't the same Kairi that he had known for the past nineteen years?

He loved her. That wasn't going to change. He needed to say something. That wasn't going to change either. His heart raced, and he couldn't help but to fall upon the sandy beach. Suddenly, somebody cried out his name. He stood up, turned around, and saw that it was Selphie. Walking with her were Tidus, Wakka, and—to his surprise—Riku. They all ran over and realized that their long-lost friend stood before them. "Sora!" Selphie exclaimed and drew him into a friendly hug.

"Um… Hello…," Sora said, knowing that he sounded like a complete idiot.

"You're still as oblivious as ever," Riku said. Everyone laughed, even Sora. He knew he was being insulted; he was just happy to see his friends again.

The sudden noise caught Kairi's attention. She turned her head toward the hoopla and instantly recognized her friend. She rushed over and embraced Sora in a death grip. When she finally decided to let him go, Sora was absolutely speechless. "Is it really you, Sora?" she asked at last.

"Oh, come on," Sora answered. "I haven't changed _that_ much!"

Kairi smiled and giggled through her unceasing blushing. "I—" she was about to say 'I love you,' but then remembered that she was surrounded by other people.

"What?" Sora asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Kairi answered.

"Aren't we all?" Tidus asked.

"Ya, definitely," Wakka answered. His funny accent hadn't changed a bit.

Sora looked longingly into Kairi's eyes. They were so beautiful. She looked so happy, but deep down, Sora could tell something was on her mind.

The six of them spent the rest of the night talking to each other, catching Sora up on all that he had missed.

Once it got late, Sora walked Kairi home. They were alone now. It was the perfect moment to ask what was on her mind. She was being so quiet. "Hey, Kai," Sora got her attention.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Is something wrong? You just seem kinda quiet," he asked her.

After a few moments with her eyes closed, Kairi said, "Come on. I'll show you." She grabbed his hand and led him to the Secret Place. Sora followed and interlaced their fingers together. Once they got there, Kairi just started rambling on about, "Idon'tknowhowanyofthishappenedoranythingbut somehowI'vegottelekinesis."

"Could you say that a bit slower?" Sora asked.

"Okay," Kairi took a deep breath and repeated, "I have telekinesis, and I don't know where it came from." and made a rock levitate with her free hand—the other one was still locked with Sora's.

"When did this happen?" Sora asked.

"I don't know," Kairi answered. "I really don't. I just… woke up with them, I guess. Nobody else knows about them either," she said, and nervously added, "Just you." She allowed the floating stone to gently fall back to the ground when Sora wrapped his arms around her. Kairi lost her concentration on the stone, and it fell with a clunk.

"Kairi," Sora said, "I love you."

Kairi's heart thumped uncontrollably. "I love you, too," was all that she could manage. She put her arms around his neck and stared into his brilliant, blue eyes. They were so close now. They could feel each other's heartbeats, see each other's breath. Before they realized what they were doing, they passionately kissed. Sora stroked his hand through her soft, silky hair while his other hand supported her back. Kairi held him closer and closer as time flew past them. They were forced to separate for a moment to breathe, then continued, their tongues dancing in the darkness of the cave.

After they finally parted, Sora sifted through all thejunk in his pocket and pulled out Kairi's old good luck charm. She had lent it to him years before and he promised that he'd return it. He tied it around Kairi's neck and said, "You wanted that back, didn't you?" Kairi simply smiled back at him and put him into another death grip. Sora held her just as tightly, if not tighter.

She planted another soft kiss upon his lips and whispered, "I love you, Sora," and rested her head on his chest, grabbing onto Sora's jacket to support herself, though it was hardly necessary with Sora's arms so tightly around her waist.

They were so happy. They could finally be together, without a care in the world.

After Sora walked Kairi back home, he went back to his old house and saw his family for the first time in five years. They were overjoyed to see him again, but nowhere near as much as Kairi was. He fell asleep on the sofa in front of the TV that night. It was the first time in a while that he actually got a good night's sleep, but the deep sleep was accompanied by horrible nightmares.

_The Heartless return and are there for Kairi. They take her away from him…_

He woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. He felt a dark presence surrounding the island. He rushed outside. It was deathly quiet. He summoned the Keyblade and prepared for battle with a powerful Heartless.

But it was just a dream. Why did Sora sense this dark presence? _Maybe I'm just paranoid_, Sora convinced himself. He turned around to head back inside, when he heard a scream in the distance. He instantly recognized the voice—Kairi! He sprinted off in the direction of the scream, holding his Keyblade over his shoulder with his right hand.

He arrived at the source of the shriek, and saw an unconscious Kairi with a soldier Heartless standing over her. With one swipe of the Keyblade, he banished the demon. He shook Kairi in an attempt to wake her up. "Kairi, wake up!" he exclaimed.

Slowly, Kairi opened her eyes. Overjoyed, Sora wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you, Sora," Kairi said. Sora kissed her again.

Sora felt the dark presence again. He slowly pulled away looked around. The ocean had turned black; so had the sky. They weren't black like the night—they were black like the Heartless. "Shh," he hushed Kairi. He gently put her down and picked up the Keyblade. Abruptly, Heartless of all kinds and colors summoned themselves to the island: NeoShadows, Shadows, Wyverns, Behemoths, Darksides, Soldiers, you name it, they were on the island.

"Kairi, run!" he ordered. Kairi obeyed, but she didn't need to run. With her dark powers, she teleported herself to her bedroom. Relief came over her when she sat on her soft bed, but as she slowly turned to look out the window, she saw just how outnumbered Sora really was.

Then everything turned black.

Sora knew he should get rid of the big guys first; he quickly switched to the Ultima Keychain and impaled the nearest Darkside. He had gotten a lot stronger after five years of battling the Heartless and could have just as easily done this with the Kingdom Key, but the Ultima form was his strongest Keyblade. He defeated the Darkside with one swipe. He then chopped off a Behemoth's head with ease. Its black blood—if you could call it blood—stained the bottom of his jeans and spilled into the already black ocean.

He felt talons ingraining themselves in his leg. He yelped out in pain and turned around. He saw that a Wyvern had cut deeply into his calf. The monster was still holding the denim it tore from his jeans. He tried to strike it, but his injured leg made him fall to the coarse sand. He quickly healed his leg as fast as his magic would allow and continued to battle the Heartless, beginning with the wyvern that impaled his leg.

"Sora!" Riku ran over and joined the epic battle with his Keyblade.

The battle went on for hours upon hours; when it was finally over, the sky and ocean were still black, but it was black as the night now. The battle was won.

"Riku, are you okay?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Riku answered. "Where's Kairi?"

"She ran to her house, I think," Sora answered. They sprinted off towards Kairi's house—it was pretty much in ruins. The door was torn off the hinges, most of the windows had been broken in, and the part that scared them the most was how it had turned completely black and had black vines all over it. "Kairi!" Sora exclaimed and ran into the house.

"Wait up!" Riku followed his best friend into the supposed abandoned house. "Kairi?" he called out.

But there was no answer.

"Kairi?" Sora repeated, somewhat louder than Riku was.

There was still no answer. Sora felt his heart sink. Where was Kairi? They searched all over the house and found no trace of her or her family.

"You think she's somewhere else on the island?" Riku asked.

"Hope so," Sora answered.

They exited the abandoned house and saw that it wasn't only Kairi's house that got blackened—every building on the island was in dark ruins. "Holy shit," Sora managed to whisper.

"This doesn't look good," Riku said.

They split up and searched everywhere—the old shed, the Secret Place, the treehouse—but found no trace of Kairi. Sora managed to find Tidus and Selphie in the treehouse, but Wakka and Lulu were also nowhere to be found. They all met up on the cold beach.

"Where're our parents?" Selphie asked, extremely concerned.

"We don't know."

"Kairi?" Tidus inquired.

"I think she's on Hollow Bastion," Sora answered. He wasn't sure why he thought this, but he did.

"How do you know?" Riku asked.

"I don't know," Sora answered. "I just do." That's when it hit him—he knew where she was because they had shared that Poupuyears ago. It really did work!

"Well, if you're sure about that, then let's go find her," Riku said.

"You two find Kairi. Tidus and I will search the island for other survivors," Selphie said.

Sora and Riku took a Gummi Ship to Hollow Bastion. Once they got there, they decided to split up; they'd cover more ground that way. Sora explored the dungeons and Riku looked through the other parts of the palace. It didn't take too long for Sora to figure out where Kairi was. He walked into a dark portion of the dungeon and found a scarred, lifeless Kairi lying on the ground. "Kairi!" he exclaimed and rushed over. He gently picked her up, sat down, and laid her head on his lap. "Kairi…," he softly stroked her face; she was cold as death. Bug-eyed, Sora slowly shook her around in an attempt to wake her up. She was still breathing, but only somewhat. He wrapped his arms around her; this may have come as a bit of a surprise to her, which made him worry a bit. What if that gave her heart a sudden shock?

"Sora…?" Kairi grunted.

"Kairi…" Sora was astonished. He couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't know whether to be glad she was awake or sad that she could die in his arms any moment.

"Sora… is that… you…?" Kairi barely managed.

"It's okay, Kairi. I'm here. Don't worry," Sora said. But how could she not worry? She could easily…

"Sora, I understand why the island was besieged by the Heartless. It wasn't because of you—it was because of me," Kairi whispered.

"I know you're a princess of—"

"It's not that… I don't understand how… Ansem somehow gave me some of his power. That's where my telekinesis came from," Kairi explained.

"But what does that have—"

"Don't you get it? Ansem's power sleeps within me! As long as I'm here, Ansem can't be beaten. I'm like his long-distance battery charger. No matter how weak he gets, he can just rejuvenate his power from me. If I'm still alive, he's—" she couldn't finish her sentence because Sora's grip on her just became tighter; she was in no condition for that. Yet, in these dire conditions, Sora made her feel…safe.

Realization coming over him, Sora had to hold Kairi closer. He didn't even realize what he was doing until Kairi yelped out in pain; he slightly loosened his clutch then, but only slightly. "You can't just let yourself die like this! There has to be another way. I'm sure of it!"

"No there isn't, Sora," Kairi explained. "Remember the promises we made? We're always together, no matter what tears us apart. Our hearts are connected… Our hearts will bring us back to each other, no matter what physical distance there may be… Don't give up now… I love you."

Suddenly, she felt something soft press against her lips. It took her a few seconds to realize that Sora was kissing her again. Not that she had much feeling before, but now her lack of sensation became relaxed. She was comfortably numb _(AN: hehehehe… Pink Floyd song)._ They lost all feeling except for touch. They drowned in each other's arms, when Kairi forced herself to stop.

She used the last of her energy to open her eyes look upon the face of the love of her life. Sora was crying. "Kairi, there has to be another way," he said through his tears. "You're not dying now."

"I'm… sorry," Kairi whispered. Those were her last words. She went limp in Sora's arms. She died with a slight expression of happiness on her face. Perhaps it was because she could see Sora one last time.

Sora held her limp body in his arms, sobbing her name into the foul-smelling air. It smelled of rotting flesh. Who could have done this to Kairi? Ansem? No, he had defeated him just a few days before. It didn't make any sense—

Someone put their hand on Sora's shoulder. He turned around, hoping that it was all a dream and Kairi would but right behind him, but no. It was Riku. "Riku! How much of that did you hear?" Sora managed to ask.

"I heard enough," Riku said and kneeled next to him, staring at the dead girl in his arms. "I can't believe this. We tried everything, but nothing worked! We failed!" he exclaimed in rage and, pounding his fist into the wall.

"I don't get it," Sora sobbed. "Who did this to her?"

"Shedid," an ominous voice said from behind them. Sora instinctively turned around but had recognized the voice beforehand.

"Ansem…" Sora muttered angrily. He wanted to strike him—to kill him! Because of him he could never love again! "YOU KILLED HER! I'LL KILL YOU!" he ran to Ansem and tried to strike him dead; Riku tried to hold him back, but wasn't quick enough. Sora ran right for the albino man and attempted to re-defeat him with one swift blow. What was this, his _third_ time facing the guy? Fifth? Just as the Keyblade was about to hit Ansem squarely in the chest, Ansem vanished into the ground. Sora desperately looked around for the man, but he was nowhere in sight.

Apparently, though, Riku saw Ansem long before Sora did; Ansem was about to throw a dark ball of solid energy at Sora. "Sora, look out!" he exclaimed. Sora turned and saw the black orb rocketing towards him. Riku jumped, pushing Sora out of the way. The dark orb, on the other hand, hit Riku.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed. Now he needed to avenge his friends as much as he needed oxygen. He jetted to Ansem, exclaiming, "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO THEM?"

"Silly boy, Sora. They brought this about themselves, both of them," Ansem answered coolly, dodging Sora's angry, rabid blows as if they were from a helium-filled balloon. In a mock-baby voice, he added, "You can't live without them, can you?"

"That's a lie! Kairi would NEVER, EVER kill her—"

"Can't you see? Were you paying any attention to the girl's last words? I gave her my power so she could be a secondary power source. She killed herself so you _could_ defeat me!"

Sora was in complete shock. Could it be true? No way! He wouldn't believe it. He _couldn't_ believe it… butshe also apologized for something; could that have been it? "You're lying!" he faintly repeated.

"You're beginning to believe me, aren't you?" Ansem asked. Instead of a spoken answer, Sora continued to attack the man to no avail. At last he caught Ansem off guard and threw him to the other side of the room, leaving him open to another attack. With all the rage in his heart, Sora jumped into the air and speared him through the chest. When he pulled the Keyblade out, it was covered in dark, red blood, yet Sora highly doubted he had a heart to pump the blood. Not after all that had happened because of him.

This time, he was dead for sure. Too much of his blood was splattered over the floor for him to stand a chance of coming back. But none of this mattered. Fighting Ansem a thousand times wouldn't cure the new-found emptiness in his heart. Kairi and Riku were both—

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed and ran over to his friend's fallen form on the floor. "Riku! Are you alright?" he shook his friend violently, hoping dearly to wake him up.

Slowly but seemingly with much pain, Riku opened his eyes. "I'm okay, Sora," he said.

"Can you stand?" Sora tried to help his friend up.

"Yeah I think so," Riku answered.

As soon as Sora finished helping Riku to his feet, he rushed immediately back over to Kairi. "Kairi, please wake up…" he said whilst holding the girl's body in his arms, hoping that it might actually work. But of course it didn't. Death is as irreversible as the sands of time.

Sora began to weep uncontrollably once again; Riku gave him about fifteen seconds before he said, "Come on, Sora, we need to get back to the island," while trying his best not to show the pain in his back, for that's where Ansem had hit him.

"What're we gonna tell the others?" Sora asked.

"The truth," Riku answered, kneeling next to Kairi and stroking her hair.

Riku piloted the Gummi ship back home while Sora stayed in another room with Kairi's corpse. All he could do was stare. Stare and silently cry, knowing he could never see Kairi ever again.

* * *

Yes I know. Very sad. I like it though. R&R or die! 


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